Twisted
by Nightingale123
Summary: Emerald's years of homeschooling are over, and what better way then to celebrate by going to a party? Wrong. She knew that in the back of her gut, something wrong would happen. Emerald thought that she would lose one of the most important things she owned until the local Spider dropped by. Who was this Spandex wearing guy? Would she see him again?
1. Party for Disaster

**Twisted**

**Chapter 1: A Party for Disaster**

**"I don't know, I think, in times where I'm really nervous, and I'm really under the pressure the worst possible outcome is for me to start thinking about it. "**

**-Shaun White **

**~OOO~**

"Are you sure about going through with this?"

The green eyed beauty blinked her big eyes and stared at herself in the mirror, watching her best friend curl a piece of her dirty blonde hair. Her complexion was a nice pale tone with dusty pink cheeks and full lips. Her cheeks were sharply angled and so were her eyebrows. Now she was getting irritated, she hated waiting for answers. The young teenager was about to grumble with dissatisfaction when her friend chuckled out sarcastically.

"Ok, alright. It's gonna be fine, don't get your undies in a pretzel."

"…Pretzel?"

"Yes. Pretzel."

"Haley…"

"It's just a small party! And you've known and seen some of them from the computer, meeting someone from homeschooling isn't so bad!"

"Says you. Miss Outgoing."

"I am wielding a curler, and I'm not afraid to burn you."

"Well. If you continue any of this gibber jabber, I will shoot an arrow to your knee."

Yes…they were having Skyrim chatter. It was just one of those things Haley and the young woman did for entertainment.

"…Wow. Look at you Emerald, your..well, hot."

"Oh! Don't say it like that! I hate it when people say that word."

"…HOT!"

"Ew! Stop! I'm too young for this!"

Emerald clamped her hands over her ears and suddenly regretted it for she had recently gotten her cartilage pierced. Emerald turned around and rammed right onto her bed, flopping down with as much lifelessness as a scarecrow. "Oi! I just did your hair and makeup! Sit up, fool!" Emerald grumbled and then sat up, Haley immediately charged at her by fixing twines of her now curled hair and staring at her mascara coated eyelashes which really brought out the green in her eyes. "Thank god, there wasn't too much damage. God, sometimes you can be a real drama queen!" Emerald stared at her friend with her jaw dropped.

"I am not."

"Are too."

"Am not!"

"Are TOO!"

"What is with all this chitter chatter?! Don't you two have a party to get to?" A familiar motherly voice echoed towards the girls from the slightly ajar bedroom door. Emerald smiled at her motherly figure, she wasn't really her mother though. It was her Aunt, Rosalinda, she was her mother's sister. Emerald stopped squirming as Haley pulled her up to a stand to examine her party clothing. A pair of shorts, some combat boots and a black shirt with a black jacket. "I wish I could have done better. But you wouldn't let me!"

"Hey! I told you! I wanted to be myself!"

"Nyeh!" Haley automatically stuck her tongue out at Emerald.

Emerald smirked before turning towards her bed once more and grabbing her Sidekick 2008, she stuffed it in her back pocket and turned towards Rosalinda with a huge childish pout. Haley sighed dramatically and then quickly stepped out of the room, "I'm gonna go put on my heels. Please..fix your niece." Emerald couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. Then she turned her full attention towards Rosalinda who walked up to her and held onto her shoulders. "Alright, what is it, Missy?" Emerald sighed deeply and then crossed her arms across her chest.

"You're just going to let me go to this party..?"

"Well…yes."

"With a bunch of people that I barely know."

"…"

"And a bunch of boys who may or may not bother me."

"Emerald. I am letting you go. It's my final decision."

"Whyyy..?!" Emerald stared at her in her whiny tone and stamped her foot down on the ground.

"Why aren't you being like most moms are?"

"Emerald, sweetie. You're no ordinary teenager. You barely go out, and the only time you DO go out is for photography, Haley, animals, or researching anatomy. What's the harm in letting you go just this once? I want you to enjoy yourself."

"…Fine."

"That's my girl. Now, go out and have fun. Remember to come back as soon as possible. Your first day of going to a real high school is tomorrow."

"Ahh…Rosi, please don't remind me."

"Alright, alright. Now stop being a stickler and go."

Emerald gave her aunt Rosalinda one last hug before making her way to the front door, Haley smiled and then opened it, beckoning Emerald to hurry. Emerald slammed the door behind her but not before yelling out the usual, "Tell Grandpa that I said hi!" Her Grandfather also lived with Rosi and Emerald, he usually worked late hours and came back home late. The 17 almost 18 year old jogged up to catch up with her best friend. 'Jesus, how does she walk in those things?!' She shook her head and walked in tempo with her.

"I think we should enjoy ourselves as much as we can."

"Why is that, Haley?"

"Well! You're going to Midtown High starting tomorrow! I'm going to die…alone and miserable."

"Haley. We'll still see each other on the weekends and such. And besides, you are NOT going to die alone…that's just preposterous. Besides, you also have Steve."

"Always being so realistic, huh, Miss Senior?"

It was Emerald's last year being a high schooler, while Haley still had the rest of Senior year for she was only a Junior. Emerald was dreading going to Midtown High though. She had been home schooled for as long as she could remember and now she was thrown barreling into a strange and large high school that she feared she would definitely get lost in. Not to mention all the strangers and teenagers. If Emerald's parents were here, they probably would've been able to tell her more about the high school, after all, that was where they both graduated from. But alas, they had died a couple of months ago on some freak bridge accident. After that incident, she had largely stuck to herself, her aunt and Haley. She was afraid to look on the news, she was afraid that she would see something as tragic as that again, so she stayed away from the local events. Emerald also remembered that a couple of months ago, the city of New York was forced to evacuate due to some strange happenings, but that was all that she was interested in, she wanted nothing more. Emerald was just glad that she didn't lose anyone else. NYC had been getting kind of restless lately.

"Em..? EMERALD?! HELLO?"

"WHAT?!"

"You almost ran into a freakin pole twice, walk straight will ya?! And stop ignoring me! I have problems too ya know! We're almost there by the way, just 10 more minutes."

"How long have we been walking?"

"About 5 minutes."

"Great."

"Well..anyway as I was saying.."

Emerald turned her head to gaze upon her best friend's dollish features as they made their way through the almost darkening streets of New York.

**~OOO~**

"Haley!? Where the hell did you go?!" She yelled over the loud music, shoving past the crowded living room, all that she could see was the flashing rainbow lights and the dozens of bouncing teenagers swaying to the beat of Moves like Jagger. Emerald squeezed out of the living room to find herself stomping up some wooden stairs. Her black combat boots shuffled roughly against them as she finally stood began looking around. "Thank god. I can finally hear myself think." Emerald bit her lip and then walked over to a random door, she was about to turn it when she heard light chatter, she leaned against the door as her eyes darted around, comprehending what was being said. 'It's Haley, I would recognize that voice anywhere! There you are, you little munchkin!'

Emerald knew it was rude to barge into random rooms that obviously didn't belong to her, but she wanted to go home! It was already 10:30 pm and her curfew was strictly at 11:00 pm! Emerald's grip on the golden knob tighten as she slowly turned the knob and peeked inside to find Haley talking to Steve. She rolled her eyes and whispered under her breath. "Typical." Then the couple leaned in and began to kiss, Emerald's face grew bright pink and she let out an unintentional loud gasp. She smacked her hand up to her mouth and watched as the two stopped kissing and snapped their heads towards the slightly ajar door. "What the hell do you want?" Came the voice of Steve.

Emerald closed the door and held onto it tightly in case Steve decided to open the door, she cleared her throat and began speaking in a high pitched old lady voice, "Oh…um..um..Oh! Sorry, I was just looking for the..uh..bathroom!" Then she booked for it, down the hall, towards the stairs only to collide into someone. "Ouch!" Emerald took a few uneasy steps back and then steadied herself. There was a slight hiccup and she opened her eyes to find a strange boy with dark black hair that was tied back in a stubby pony tail. He had a nose pierce and his menacing bright blue eyes stared down at her 5'6" figure. "Ooooohhh…sorry, miss. Are you..aallrriighhtt?" Emerald held onto the stair railing and narrowed her bright green eyes at him, "I would have been if you weren't in the way. It's ok though."

"Th..hiccup..that's good."

"Pardon, but are you…alright?"

When he didn't reply, she decided to go on full alert. She wrinkled her nose when the stench of puke and alcohol hit her nose. Emerald had the urge to swat her hand in front of her face to get the disgusting stenches away from her.

"Are you…drunk?"

"No…well, I dunno."

"I think you are, pal."

"What's your name, babe?"

That struck a nerve, she clenched her jaw and ground her teeth together with a sharp _Clack_, she was feeling very..sarcastic. 'Hm. I don't see why not.'

"Um. From Umbridge."

"Um. Well, it's nice to meet you." He stuck out his hand and she stared down at it with her arms folded across her chest. This was a waste of her time.

"I have to get going, goodbye."

Before he could hold her back or stop her, she clobbered down the stairs and walked out of the vibrating house. Emerald clutched her head and then pulled out her phone, she stared down at it with a sigh of relief. Time was on her side today. It was only 10:33 pm. All she had to do was speed walk her way home and she would make it. Her phone buzzed and she winced slightly to see that it was a text from Haley.

_'You left?! Why?'_

_'Well Hay, let's see. It's already 10:33 and my curfew is 11!' _

_'I was going to find you…'_

'_Ya, eventually.'_

_'I'm sorry, Em.'_

_'Hay. You know I can't stay mad at you forever. It's fine. I know my way home.'_

_'Alright…just be careful. Kk?'_

_'Kk. I'll ttyl.'_

With that said and done, Emerald stuck her phone in her back pocket and looked up only to slam into someone yet again. This time, she was sent tumbling onto the ground. "Ouch! What is with people today?! Can't you watch where you are going?" There was a laugh..and then it grew louder, and then suddenly, there was a chorus of laughs. She looked up with wide fearful eyes to see a group of boys around her age. She narrowed her eyes, 'I saw them at the party!' Emerald stood up and dusted herself off, she held her head up high and then began to walk past the smoking group. "Aahhhhh…there she is. It's Um!" Emerald furrowed her eyes with confusion and then decided to ignore the call, she began to walk faster until finally someone grabbed her arm and yanked her back. She wiped her head around to see that it had been that drunk boy at the party, the one with the menacing blue eyes. "Why'd you leave so soon! I was starting to like your company!"

Emerald narrowed her eyes at him and began to dig her oval shaped nails into his hand, "Aw, now she's playing feisty. Come on. We just wanted to have some fun." His voice had grown dark and she stared at him with furrowed eyebrows. When the group started to close in on her, she finally reacted quite violently. "Let go you vampire wannabe!" Then she quickly leaned her head over and bit him. He yelled out and finally released his grasp on her, that was when she booked for it. There was hollering and shouting and kissing sounds behind her as she continued to run down the streets of NYC. Emerald looked around, she had to improvise, besides, no one was going to save her skin. Emerald pulled out her phone and quite fumbled with it to check the time. 10:45. She had to move faster, she had to in order to lose these hooligans. Her eyes sparked with mischief as she saw a 2 barrels full of trash rushing towards her, she ran past them but not before quickly knocking them down and sending them rolling towards the slightly stoned boys behind her. There were a few curses and yells, her lips slightly pulled up to a mischievous grin. She had lost them, but they were only a few seconds behind. Suddenly, it felt like she was Altair running through the streets of Jerusalem, trying to lose the guards. Damn it! She can't think about Assassin's Creed at such a time!

Emerald saw a trash can and decided to climb up on it and reach for the stair railing that beckoned her forward. Emerald clambered onto it and then jumped for the railing, it gave her whiplash but she was holding onto it, struggling to pull herself up. "Ugh! I knew I should've gone to the gym with Rosi!" Suddenly, there was laughing below her and then someone had reached up and pulled on her leg, her hands slipped from the railing due to her sweaty palms and she landed on her back on the asphalt ground in an alley. A gasp slipped out of her lips and she arched her back in pain. "Ah! Stupid Hew! You weren't suppose to do that! Well..at least she isn't running anymore." "Well, I'm pissed. Barrels aren't exactly comforting to my balls." If she could laugh, she would have, but the pain was sprouting out of her back and sending strange shivers throughout her body. "Well then, we'll just have to teach her a lesson." The menacing blue eyed boy had said while staring at her helpless body with hunger.

He pulled her up roughly and slammed her against the wall, the back of her head sharply hit the bricks and she winced. Her vision blurred for a second and she glared at the guy right in the eyes. "Aren't very tough anymore are ya?" She built up enough saliva to spit right at his eye, he squeezed his eyes shut and she took this opportunity to kick him in the groin and make a full run for it again, only this time, it was a dead end. There was no way out. A huge building blocked her way. She stared at it with fear and then turned to head to see the man quickly reach his arm out. He tightly wrapped his fingers around her slender neck and shoved her against the wall with force. She dug her nails into his hand, attempting to get him to release his death grip on her. His piercing blue eyes stared her right in the eyes. He pulled out a sharp curved pocket knife and held it up for her to see.

Emerald's eyes widened and she tugged on his hand while choking for air. "Yes. We'll really have to teach you a lesson." Then he held the knife up to her throat and gently but forcefully pushed on it, he had moved his hand unto her shoulder to push her back against the wall. She gasped and struggled a little bit until he pressed it further against her throat. She let out a tiny squeak. "Don't worry, I promise it'll be fun. You'll be smiling with joy." The freak caressed the pocket knife against her lips and then her right cheek. Finally he began to unbutton her black shirt, she felt tears emerge, but there was no way that she would let these pitiful men see her cry. Then there was a large _Thud_ noise and a grunt. The boy stopped unbuttoning her shirt and then sighed with annoyance, "I told you guys, you'll get a turn." Then there was strange slinking noise and some sort of web material that overlapped the knife, then there was a tug as it was sharply pulled back away from him. The boy turned his full attention at the intruder to find a strange man in a blue and red spandex suit with a spider in the middle. Emerald gasped and stared at the man with furrowed eyebrows, 'Are those sun glass lenses?'

"I think you guys are having a little too much fun." The mysterious man dropped the taken knife on the ground and folded his arms across his chest. The blue eyed guy stared down at his fallen mate and then at the other two boys who stared back at him with fright in their eyes. "Ski, it's the Spider. What do we do?"

"I suggest you run around in circles and call for your mommies."

"Shut up you bastard!" The blue eyed menace yelled angrily and pointed at the spandex wearing man. "Don't just stand there, you idiots!"

"Well. I'm appalled! That wasn't very nice!" Then he raised a hand and a strange web string shot right out to one of the scared boys and pulled him forward.

He sent a roundhouse kick square in the face, there was a terrible crack before the guy screamed out with pain and fell down to the alley ground, clutching his face. Then he turned towards the other boy who was holding a wooden stick with fright, she could see him shaking from the end of he alley. There was a light chuckle from the lenses man and then he turned around as if to walk away, then he suddenly turned back around and held his arms up in the air and loudly yelled out, startling even her. "BOO!" The boy screamed out and dropped the stick before running past the blue and red suited guy. He chuckled again and then shook his head while walking slowly towards the blue eyed menace. "It gets them every time." Emerald couldn't help but smirk just slightly. Her eyes widened when she saw that the blue eyed menace was holding a bunch of tiny knives behind his back. She narrowed her eyes and then looked around on the ground for something, anything. Emerald came across a skinny metal pole and then held it in her hands, she tapped it against her palm, hungry for revenge.

Emerald walked behind the menace and then lifted the pole up in the air, "Oi!" He whirled around only to be kissed by the metal pole as it whacked him right across the face. She smiled and then dropped it as he fell face forward. Emerald put her hands on her hips and then spoke out in a British accent, "Right in the kisser."

She looked up to see the spandex wearing man standing still, he looked a bit shocked but then rubbed the back of his neck. He coughed a bit and then whispered out, "Hmm..well, I would want to button up your shirt." Emerald's eyes widened and then she stared down at her exposed chest, her face turned bright pink and she whirled around, quickly buttoning up her black shirt. 'Holy crap! He probably knows the color of my bra!'

"Sorry for the flash…"

"It's alright, I watched Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles when I was young…I mean..ah..-"

"So you did see it!"

"…"

"Nevermind. Thanks for helping me."

"Anytime."

"Soo…what's with the getup? It looks like you ditched the London Olympics."

"This is not a getup! I put all my time into this baby! Blood, sweat, and tears!"

"Alright, alright. Isn't the spandex..well, a little too tight?"

"Don't pretend like you don't like it."

"…I really need to be getting home now. It's almost curfew for me. So, thanks again, sun glasses, its been fun."

"Woah, woah. I find that offense! Didn't you notice the spider? You know, smacked dead center." He pointed at the insignia on his chest.

"Oh, oh. I'm so, so sorry. Please, forgive me!"

"Now that's just cruel."

"You find it cruel, I find it funny. Anyway! What do you expect me to call you then?"

"Spider-man."

"Alright, _Spider-man_, thanks for being my knight of the day."

"Anytime." With that said, he swerved around on his heel and jumped up in the air, his arm swung out and a strange popping noise sounded in the air as he swung his way out of the alley, soon he was completely out of sight. Emerald smiled and then ran out of the alley as fast as she could, she made it home with 5 minutes to spare.

**~OOO~**

_'Did you get home alright?'_

_'Yes. I'm home now, cozy and warm. But you'll never believe what happened. Haley, it's almost like magic.'_

_'OUUU! I'm all ears tell meee!'_

_'Who is this Spider-man guy?'_

_'You don't KNOW who Spider-man is?!'_

_'Uh..no, that's why I'm asking you.'_

_'Hon. This is exactly why you need to get out more.'_

_'Crud! Rosi is coming up the stairs! I gotta get some sleep, big day tomorrow. I promise I'll tell you later! Ttyl!'_

_'AWWWWWWWWW!'_

**~OOO~**

***A/N: Alright, sooo. I was recently inspired to write a fan fic with Spidy in it because I'm in LOVE with him. I've always been actually..lol, I don't know why i didn't think of this before. As for my OC, well, I kinda imagined Emma Roberts with bright green eyes and dirty blonde hair, and you guys already know how Spidy looks, the newest one btw. Well, anyway. Review and Fav, tell me if I should continue or not! Thanks for reading this in advance! Can't wait for the next chapter! Disclaimer: Oh ya..I totally own Spider-man. Not.****


	2. Homeschool Sessions Over

**Twisted**

**Chapter 2: Homeschool Sessions Over**

**"I am free of all prejudices. I hate every one equally."**

**-W. C. Fields **

**~OOO~**

_'Tell me! TELLLLLL MMEEEE! You r awake? Aren't u?'_

_'Ugh. Tired, but yes awake. I'm getting ready.'_

_'TEELL MEEEE!'_

_'Hay..'_

_'I will kidnap you if you don't tell me.'_

_'OK! Fine!'_

_-Time lapse-_

_'HOLY SHIT! OUUU! It looks like you got a superhero stalker.'_

_'Hay, it was just a coincidence, he happened to find me.'_

_'Says you.'_

_'It's the TRUTH! He's a superhero, he was probably out on patrol…or something. Now stop texting me, I have to finish getting ready.'_

_'Finee…'_

**~OOO~**

Emerald stared at herself one last time, she tweaked with her mascara coated eye lashes for a second before staring down at her simple outfit. A pair of skinny jeans with a plain short sleeved shirt and a jacket along with her combat boots. A final shrug and she grabbed her Jansport book bag and stomped down the stairs, praying to God for forgiveness for whatever wrong deeds she did. She needed him on his good side today, first days aren't always fun. Especially when you were new to the school. "What's with all the ruckus?" Emerald smiled and gently folded into her Grandpa's soft embrace. "Nothing, just tired..and frustrated, and nervous, and-" "Alright, that's enough, missy, now come and eat your french toast." Rosi smirked and set a plate of steaming…delicious french toast on the dining room table. Emerald slipped off her book bag and immediately began to dig in. She occasionally checked the time. "7:23." Rosi sat down across from her and dug in as well, but with a noble woman's etiquette. "When does the bus come?" Emerald sighed and then put her fork and knife down, "7:30."

Emerald sloppily stood up and washed her dishes, she dried off her hands and slipped on her light book bag before planting kisses on both of her guardians and walking out the door. She hugged her jacket closer to her and sighed, it was a tad bit chilly, but it would warm up. Which was strange, since it was September. September 7th to be exact…first day of school for everyone…great. Emerald furrowed her eyebrows for a second and stopped to check to see if she had quickly stuffed in her SLR camera case, a sigh of relief escaped her slight parted lips when she saw it there. "Good, I'm probably going to need that today. Probably." She bit down on her lip and then pulled out her schedule and map of the school. Her eyes widened, "A two story building?! You gotta be kidding me." She flipped the map back to the front side and continued walking on, the bus stop was already in view, it was a mere 3 minutes away. Emerald always borrowed Rosi's car, but she wanted to get used to the school first, she had her parking permit and license, she just had to get used to the gist.

Emerald stood at the bus stop and stared around at the few students who had arrived early. It was a peaceful area, Forest Hills. She liked it here, especially when she was young. Whenever she had found the time, she would go outside and play with all the other little kids. Dolls, action figures, tag, cooties. It was a childhood that she missed. A slight smile appeared across her face and she sighed staring down at her schedule. 'Advanced Photography with Mr. Louis. And it's 2st period. At least I start out slow.' She blew a piece of hair out of her face and then examined which room number the classroom was on the map. After she was sure that she understood some of it, she looked back up. More students began to pop up. A waft of smoke drifted her way and she unintentionally coughed. There was a slight grumble and she turned her head to see someone that she was hoping she wouldn't see EVER again. The blue eyed menace. Her eyes had widened for a bit, but then a mischievous grin popped up once she realized that he had a bandage wrapped around his sorry head. He glared at her before puffing in some smoke and then exhaling it her way, smirking as he did it.

Emerald glared back and then turned around, 'I hope he learned his lesson.' She smirked once again once the image of her whacking him upside his head popped up. 'Hey, he deserved it.' Her thoughts had slowly drifted off, off to the blue and red spandex suited guy who had saved her from that horrible group of boars. Emerald had taken her time in asking Haley more about the Spider hero. She had told her that he was more of a vigilante, and of course, Emerald disagreed. Then Haley had stated how dreamy he was and wondered how many girls he saved each day. Emerald had of course, rolled her eyes and replied with a more realistic comment, '_Hay, he saves anyone and everyone who needs help_.' Her best friend had replied back with a grumble. Suddenly a shove had sharply pushed her out of her thoughts.

Emerald jerked forward and snapped up her head to see a tall guy with messy brown hair…and a lot of it, it looked like he had to take a lot of time making it stick up like that. Then again, she noticed that some guy's hair did that…and naturally. 'Lucky bastards.' The first thing she noticed were his light brown eyes, they were worried and apologetic. He moved his skateboard to a more comfortable rubbed the back of his neck, "I'm really sorry about that. I didn't see you there!"

"It's ok. If I was that tall, I probably would've walked over myself."

A light chuckle rumbled out of his chest and he gave her one last grin before turning towards the now pulling up bus, she instantly snapped out of it and followed after the other students who began to file in. 'Damn it, if I wasn't distracted, I would have already claimed a seat for myself.' Emerald boarded the bus to find that there really weren't that many people on it, and apparently there was just one more stop, 'Just two stops? That's pretty cool.' She sighed as she sat down in an empty seat and immediately pulled out her I-pod, shuffling through until she found Iron by Woodkid, lately she had been obsessed with it. Ever since she saw the trailer for AC2 Revelations. It just STUCK to her. Then she turned her head to gaze out the window her eyes trailed around at the scenery around her until she noticed a certain reflection watching her. Her eyes widened and she turned her head around to find no one watching her. Then she turned her head back around and furrowed her eyebrows with confusion. 'A trick of the…mirror. Just a trick of the mirror.' 7 minutes passed until the bus stopped for the final stop, she turned her head to watch the boarding students, one by one, smiling at each other and telling each other that it was nice to see each other again. 'Easy for you to say.' She pouted slightly and turned her head back towards the window. There was a slight tap on her shoulder and she instantly jerked her head up to see a beautiful girl with almost white blonde hair and pretty gray blue eyes. Emerald stared at her with a dumbstruck expression, "I've never seen anyone with such a pretty eye color." The girl stared at her with a bit of shock and then laughed out gently, she looked down for a second before turning her head and smiling at someone, then she looked back at her and smiled with a cock of her head, "Thank you. May I please sit with you?" Emerald realized her stupidity and quickly moved her bag out of the way, "I-I'm sorry, I tend to blurt out stupid things all the time."

"It's no big problem. Besides, it's interesting."

"Really. I find that it gets me into heaps of trouble."

"Well, we girls have to stand up for ourselves, no?"

"True. Touche."

"Are you wearing contacts?"

"I'd ask you the same question."

A giggle escaped her before the girl pulled out a Physics book that looked like it was bought from the bookstore.

"No, this is my real eye color."

"It's very unique." She tugged a strand of blonde hair out of her face.

"Thank you."

"What's your name, are you new here?"

"I'm Emerald Smith. And yes, I am new here. I decided to quit on homeschooling."

"Oh. That's interesting, wow. My name is Gwen Stacy. Now, have you been home schooled all your life?"

"Basically. It was a pleasure to meet you though."

"A pleasure as well. Let me see your schedule. Maybe I can help you out, oh, so you're a Senior too?"

"Yes."

"Oh, look. We have Honors Physics together…and let's see…ah, your taking Honors Anatomy. I'm taking AP Bio. Look, we have British Lit together as well."

"Oh wow. That's a relief, I'm glad. You seem like a very nice person."

"Why thank you. The same goes for you, you also have a nice sense a humor if I may add."

"Ahh..why, keep going..I don't mind."

They both broke out with giggles and passed by the time talking about classes and how she would get to each and every class.

**~OOO~**

'Really?! P.E., 1st period!?' Emerald walked out of the girl's locker room once she was sure that her lock was tight. Then she entered the gym to find that the Seniors were taking Volleyball for now. A smile flashed across her face, 'Finally, a sport I actually understand.' Emerald looked down at her black yoga pants and blue shirt that had 'Life is Good' written across the back and a little stick person smiling over a campfire on the front. She stood off to the side as their gym teacher called for roll. After a few looks around, her sight stopped at the guy that had bumped into her this morning, the one with the skateboard. She shrugged and then turned her attention back to the gym teacher once he called her name. "Emerald Smith?" She raised her hand and slightly grinned, "Present." He beckoned her forward with the wave of his hand and then began talking to her about he general safety rules and regulations.

Emerald sighed pitifully as she was thrown into a team of 5 boys. While on the other side there seemed to be 2 girls and three boys. One of them seemed to boast quite a lot. She had to admit, he was pretty hot. But that's what a lot of them were like, and then you finally get to know them and find out that they are complete and utter jerks. She slightly bent her knees and held her hands out in position. Her palms on top of each other and her thumbs side by side. She took a quick glance around her team to find them rigid, but ready to hit the ball when it came towards them. Her eyes stopped yet again to see that the boy with the amazing hair happened to be on her team. She turned her head back to see the ball coming straight for her, she quickly reacted and jerked her positioned arm at it. It quickly juggled onto the other side, only to land near a "terrified" girl. She squeaked out with "fear". The boy with the shaved blonde head and blue eyes turned towards the girl and raised his arms as if to say, "What the hell?!" The girl shrugged and opened her mouth with a huge smile on her face, "Whhaatt?! It was fast! Come on, Flash. It's just a game." The Flash guy turned back around and leaned in position with anger on his face, "You say whatever you wanna say."

Emerald's eyes slightly widened as she saw Flash spike it right over her, it came straight for her face, she glared and then spiked it right back. Flash turned right on time and quickly caught it. He furrowed his eyebrows at her and then smirked, "Woah. Look's like someone's got an attitude." The green eyed beauty narrowed her eyes at the tall and egotistic character, she watched as the ball was served, and was headed towards the boy that was at her bus stop. He quickly jumped in the air and spiked it. Her eyes widened to see it barreling so fast, 'How many miles per hour is that?!' The players on the other side dodged it with a few yells. Flash turned towards the guy and then raised his arms, "Come on, Parker. Are we gonna go through this again?" Emerald shifted her eyes towards the Parker guy and raised an eyebrow. The boy just shrugged with a huge smirk on his face and rubbed the back of his neck, "If we have to."

She smirked and then turned to see the ball come straight at her face, it smacked right onto her forehead which sent her toppling down. She groaned as she landed on the shiny wooden floor of the Gym bottom first. The Parker guy walked up to her and kneeled down, stopping the rolling volleyball. "Wow. He's being an ass again. Dude. Flash, not cool." Flash only laughed along with his other team, she narrowed her eyes at him and then turned her head at the kneeling Parker. He stared back at her fiery expression. A little hesitant to see how pissed she was. "Give me the ball."

"Don't tell me your gonna do something stupid."

"Define stupid."

"Getting yourself into trouble."

"Yes, I'm gonna do something stupid."

"Then I'm not giving you the ball."

"Yes…you are."

"No I'm not."

"…" she sent a glare his way and then quickly snatched it out of his arms and stood up. She juggled the ball on her palm. Her eyes traveled Flash's body until she found a quite suitable spot for the picking.

"I'm going to turn around and pretend like I saw a pretty butterfly."

"Yes, you do that." A few chuckles escaped her other team members.

Emerald raised the ball high in the air and pulled her dominant arm back as much as she could, building up momentum and strength, she bit her lip and then smashed her hand into the ball. It was sent blazing through the air, right in the groin. Flash yelled out in pain and then flopped over onto his knees. Gripping the area. "Why you little.."

"Little what?" She murmured out with triumph.

She turned her head to see that a few team members were holding their chuckles, along with the Parker guy. A whistle blew in the air and Emerald winced. She obviously knew that that was meant for her. "Ms. Smith, over here…NOW." Emerald groaned and quickly strutted her way towards the PE teacher. "What happened there?" She put on her best innocent look and shook her head, "I'm sorry, I didn't know my aim was that bad. I was trying to get it over the net properly and I guess I didn't realize the strength in my arm. I didn't mean to hurt him, honestly. I just hope he's alright." The coach stared down at her and then nodded, "He'll be fine….hm. What happened to your forehead?"

"I was hit."

"Well. That explains it."

"Explains..what?"

"I didn't see anything."

"Ahhh." She smiled at the slightly smirking coach.

"Ever consider joining a volleyball team?"

"Not really sir, though I have been playing on my own for quite sometime."

"Here." Then he began to scribble down some things, he handed the scrap sheet to her. "Consider it. Then we can work on your "terrible" aim."

"Will do, sir." The warning bell buzzed in the air and the coach whistled out, "Change!"

Emerald clutched the piece of paper tightly in her hand and then walked out of the gym.

**~OOO~**

"Um. Hey! Wait up!"

Emerald turned around to see the Parker guy. "Oh, hi."

"Hey." He smiled at her awkwardly. She nodded back and then stared down at her schedule, 'Finally. Advanced Photo…heaven.'

"I saw you talking with Gwen."

"Do you know her?"

"…Yes."

"I see. She's so nice."

"She is indeed." A moment of silence before he spoke again.

"Can I see your schedule?"

She snapped her eyes away from his light brown ones and then gave it to him, she stared back up at him and watched as he examined it.

"We've got PE, Photo, Math, and Physics together."

"Oh. That's nice. I've already made friends. And it's only my first day." They both chuckled and then they began to climb the stairs to the main level.

"What's your name? I don't want to keep calling you, The Parker Guy."

"Ha. It's Peter. You can call me Pete, Peter. Whatever suits you more."

"Well, it was a pleasure to meet you, Peter."

"Pleasure as well. Now let's get going, we don't want to be late."

"Right." She nodded and then jogged to keep in tempo with him as they neared the Photo class. She wondered what they would do today, it was only the first day, after all.


	3. Just a Coincidence

**Twisted**

**Chapter 3: Just a Coincidence **

**"I'm surprised that I've survived my own dysfunction, really."**

**-George Michael **

**~OOO~**

"What was the Coach talking to you for? Well…other then nailing Flash in the balls.."

Emerald let out a little laugh as they both raced through the hallways, well, she was having trouble following him but she wasn't very behind.

"Joining the volleyball team. He gave me the tryout dates, all I have to do is get a print out of my physical from my Doctor."

"Ah. Well, you are pretty good at it, which is good, most people aren't that great when they play alone."

"You make me sound like a loner with no friends who lives with cats."

"Hey, you were the one who took it the wrong way. Oh. Here it is, the Advanced Photo room. Come on, no need to be shy."

"You're making a scene..Parker."

She shuffled in behind Peter as he loudly told her to enter, she narrowed her eyes at the back of his head and then found an empty seat to sit in. Peter pulled the chair out next to her and smiled.

"This seat isn't taken, right?"

"Yes. I'm waiting for my imaginary friend to arrive. Don't worry, even if you sit on him, he won't feel a thing."

"Funny."

She gave him a fake smile and then gently set her bag down on the desk and pulled out her SLR camera case, she looked around as the final bell rang which meant you were late to class if you weren't already through the door. 'There aren't many students…in this class.' She smiled to herself and carefully pulled the complex camera out of it's case. 'Which is a good thing for me.' Emerald took a sneak peek to see that Peter already had his camera around his neck, she cocked her head to the side…'I wonder why I didn't notice that before.' She nonchalantly shrugged and turned her head as the teacher walked in, out of breath and hasty. "I'm sorry class…I had to grab a few things from the Art room. I had forgotten my attendance book."

Then he rushed towards the dry erase board that was behind his desk and spelled out his name, '_Mr. Louis_.' She toyed with her camera and paid no mind to him. "For those of you who don't know my name, which is entirely impossible…unless you are new here…I am Mr. Louis and it DOES seem like there is a new student to this school. Hmmm." Then he scanned his list of students and smiled, "Ah. Ms. Smith. Why don't you introduce yourself?" Her eyes widened and she jerked her head towards the teacher, "You want me to introduce myself…?"

"Why..yes. I believe I did say that."

"Is it really necessary?"

"We are ALL curious to know who you are."

She sighed and blew a piece of hair out of her face. "Up there?" She pointed towards the front of the room.

"Well…if you want to stand up on the desk, then go ahead. But other than that, I don't see any other object that you can stand on."

Chuckles erupted throughout the classroom and her face grew bright pink, she mumbled something under her breath and slowly stood to the front of the room, she rubbed her arm and then turned to watch the few eyes that examined her. "Well. Hi, I'm Emerald."

"Hey Emerald.." there were a few students who murmured it out. She smiled, trying to stop herself from chuckling and then stared back up at the teacher who was honestly, pretty cute. He was young as well, so it was normal to think that, right?

"So..Emerald. Did your parents just think up that name, or was there a special reason?"

She looked down at the ground and then bit her lip, for some reason, she felt personal when anyone mentioned the word '_parent_'.

"They named me that because of my eyes."

"…ah. I see. So, what brings you here, into our beloved Photo class?" Then he held out his arms and gestured to the whole room.

She let out a small snicker and then continued, feeling a little more confident.

"Photography is my passion. My hobby, I love it. I've been interested in Photography ever since I first held a camera."

"What kind style do you use?"

"Well. There are multiple. I love taking close ups and portraits, then there are landscapes and animals."

"Hmm. I see. That's interesting. Soo…-"

"Are we done? Because I feel as though this introduction has turned into a Talk Show."

A few laughs erupted here and there and she smiled herself as the teacher gave her a funny look, soon he began to cackle as well.

"Yes, you my sit now. Emerald. We do indeed have a project that we will be starting. I do hope you all brought your cameras. If you haven't then I have extras. We're going to the courtyard, off with you! I'll be out in a minute."

Emerald gently grabbed her digital SLR and looped it around her neck, there was a tap on her shoulder and she turned to see Peter smirking from ear to ear at her. She held out her hand before he could say anything.

"If you have some witty remark. Hold your breath. Now..where is this courtyard?"

"Didn't you think of following the yellow brick road?"

She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion until he pointed at the few students with their own cameras who headed out the back door towards the courtyard. "..oh."

"Come on."

"Right." She murmured quietly as they both walked out to the now blazing sun over head. She stared up at the sky and smiled at the now huge clouds, clouds that looked like tumbling waves over a sandy beach. Soon Mr. Louis joined the class as well. He cleared his throat and then scanned the chattering students who didn't seem to notice his presence. Then he rolled his eyes and then his eyes stopped at a certain student. He snickered and then quickly yelled out while pointing at her. "Oh my god! Jazmin! There's a wasp by your head!" There was a scream and then a few yells as the girl and her friends shuffled away from that area. Peter cackled along with a few other students and then shook his head at Mr. Louis.

"Aw. Come on, Louis. That wasn't very nice."

"Hey. I had to get the attention I needed somehow."

Peter just shook his head and shrugged nonchalantly. The Jazmin girl huffed and then folded her arms across her chest.

"There aren't any wasps around here anymore!"

"Exactly." Laughed Mr. Louis. Then he clapped his hands together which for some reason startled a few people, including Emerald.

"Alright, this project that we will be doing won't take long. We'll be using Photoshop, so be prepared." A few grumbles and sighs.

"Oh shut up, you potatoes. Now, this is a partner assignment. I will give you the privilege to work with anyone you want. As long as you are WORKING. The assignment is….a portrait! What I want you to do is…take the picture of your partner, Photoshop it to enhance it and make it all pretty and girly. Then, I will print out the picture and your job is to give it back to your partner…your partner will do the same. Then when you get your picture back, I want you to stick it onto a nice piece of fancy construction paper…which I will provide..and you will write about yourself, using this sheet." He held up the stack of personal questions. Emerald let out a silent groan.

"Is there a problem, Smith?"

"Didn't I just get through telling you about myself?"

"Too bad. Do it again."

"…"

"Remember class, this is also a chance to make friends, so partner up with someone that you don't know. Or be a sucker and partner up with your friend. Your choice, I don't give a crud. Just don't annoy me."

A few more laughs and then the whole class began to shuffle around and gather around plants and trees. A tap on her shoulder brought her back to reality and she stared up at the face of Peter. He smiled and waved the 2 pieces of introduction papers. She pouted and took one from him.

"I don't get a say in who I want to work with?"

"No…unless there is someone else."

"…not really."

"Then, no."

"You're mean."

"Why thank you, Emerald."

"Anytime, Parker."

They nodded at each other and Peter began to slowly walk around the courtyard, examining the features. "Ok, let's start with your picture first. We'll take a few, and then you can pick the one you like best."

"Me? Fine."

"Alright…hmm…oh. Stand next to that tree."

"Uh..ok."

Emerald hesitantly walked over to the short tree and leaned against it, awkwardly staring at Peter as he cocked his head to the side and and examined her. She felt..well…strange. Emerald hated being watched, she looked down at the ground for a second until she heard shuffling. "Ok. Well, your going to have to look up either way." Then he lifted her chin up to level it with the camera from the distance and then stared at her legs, "Move that leg over the other." She did it awkwardly. "Lean your head against the tree." Finally he stopped bossing her around and then stood away from her, so that he could at least get her full head and some of her legs. As he tweaked with the camera, she had the need to blurt something out for a while now.

"Why don't you just ditch this and apply to LifeTouch?"

"You know, that isn't a bad idea. But I don't think they hire young photographers."

"Lie about your age."

"Are you always this illegal?"

"…No."

"Alright. Now..smile."

She immediately stopped talking and then quickly decided to give the camera a soft and subtle smile. There was a '_Click_', then Peter walked over to her, his eyes a little wide.

"Did anyone ever tell you that you were photogenic?"

"…I'm not photogenic."

"Look." He hastily pointed the picture her way.

"Peter. I think all SLR cameras tend to make people look fabulous."

"Hmm..Touche."

"So, now you're saying that I'm not photogenic."

"I never said that!"

"But you admitted!"

"You really love to speak your mind, don't you?"

"It's a hobby."

"Wait..stop moving around, stay right there."

She stopped shifting from foot to foot and watched as Peter loomed over her and pointed the camera down at her face. A few strands of hair got in her face so she hastily moved them out of the way and stared straight up at the camera and slightly smiled with wide green eyes. A quick '_Click_' and he smiled brightly.

"Wow. Look at you."

She scooted over towards him and stared at her picture with pure shock.

"Are you sure that's me? What'd you do to the camera?!"

"Nothing! I just took the picture."

"Right."

"Which one do you like more, this one, or the one I just took."

Emerald stared at the two and then rubbed her arm awkwardly, "The one you just took."

"Good. I like that one too."

"Ok. Now, I'll take your picture."

"Nah. We'll do that tomorrow. Let's start Photoshopping your picture."

"O-ok."

**~OOO~**

Emerald stared down at her schedule:

1st: PE

2nd: Photo

3rd: Honors Anatomy

4th: Yearbook

5th: Brit English

6th: Honors Physics

7th: Math

8th: Psychology

She smiled once she realized that she was now going to 5th period. English! She had that with Gwen! Her heart soared, she had already been embarrassed too many times today. She at least entered 10 wrong classes, her brain was mentally diminishing. Hopefully she would find her way to English without screwing herself.

Emerald ran down the hallway realizing that the bell would probably ring any second now, she stared at the numbers with haste and finally entered the correct classroom. Her breath was strained and ragged, she looked around for familiar blonde hair and found the girl towards the middle of the row. Emerald quickly strutted over and sat down next to her. Gwen smiled up at her and cackled once she realized that the girl was in completely disarray. "You like tired, Emerald."

"It's cause I am. I think my brain is going to explode."

"You'll be fine. Trust me. Though, I heard this teacher was strict."

"She is old."

"I think so."

"Typical."

"Emerald!"

"What!? It's the truth!"

They both giggled and then immediately seized once they realized that the teacher had indeed walked in and was writing her name across the chalkboard. 'Who uses those nowadays?!' The woman grabbed a ruler and loudly slammed it across the board, making both Emerald and Gwen jump. "My name is Mrs. Mouse. You may NOT call me Mouse, M, or any of the sort, Mrs. Mouse will do." Emerald pouted silently and stared down at her notebook, gently tapping her pencil against the empty notebook paper. She looked at Gwen to find her staring straight at the teacher, she then whispered out,

"I think she got excited from her last date only to find that it was a porcupine. That's why she's probably so pissed."

"Emerald. You're so mean."

"You're probably thinking the same thing."

"…Hush now."

"Oh. Great. It's Miss Attitude."

Emerald furrowed her eyebrows when she heard a familiar voice behind her, both Gwen and Emerald turned to find Flash glaring at Emerald. She cocked her head to the side and then smirked venomously,

"Why, if it isn't Mister Attention Seeker."

"You know Flash, Emerald?"

Emerald gazed at Gwen and grinned again, "Oh yes, I indeed do."

"Look. If you tell anyone, I'll ruin your life."

"I'd let to see you try, Flash."

"Why you-"

"AHEM! Smith, Stacy, Thompson. Turn AROUND and write down these notes, you'll need them for your homework."

They jumped from the large slam of the meter stick and scrambled to write the notes on the chalkboard, which Mrs. Mouse continued to write on. Pressing the chalk down so hard that it squeaked and scratched every single time to wrote a letter.

"I swear, she's doing this on purpose." Emerald muttered out with disapproval. There was a slight giggle from Gwen.

"Agreed."

"It hurts to say this, but I think I agree, Miss Attitude."

"Emerald, Flash. It's Emerald."

"Whatever."

**~OOO~**

Emerald gently closed the front door and sloppily entered the living room to find that Gramps was gone and Rosi was sitting on the couch with the laptop in hand. Emerald didn't bother diving on the couch, she dropped her book bag and instantly fell onto the ground with a groan.

"Emerald! What in the world happened?!"

"School."

"Were they picking on you?"

"Oh, no. Actually, I made a few friends, aren't you surprised?"

"Oh my god. Should I be concerned? Do you want me to call the ambulance?"

"Rosi. I know It's a miracle, but that's not necessary. It's just that there are so many periods in one day. And it's almost 4:00! School is so long."

"Well you think that. You'll get used to it in no time, sweetie. Did you find your classes alright?"

"I went into 10 different rooms total…trying to find a few classes that I couldn't find."

"Well, you at least have an idea of where they are now, right?"

"Yes. I etched it into my mind so that I won't be embarrassed any longer."

"You hungry?"

"No. I'm gonna start on my homework. I'll come down afterwards. Promise."

"Alright, take your time sweet heart. And make sure you call Haley, she wanted to talk to you."

"Oh right. Will do."

With that said, she tiredly clobbered up the stairs to her bedroom.

**~OOO~**

"Rosi. It'll be fine! The gas station is just a few minutes away. I don't need the car. It's a waste of gas."

"Oh! At least take the tazer!"

"I am NOT taking that thing with me."

"Pepper spray?"

"Fine, give me it. I'll run back once I've got the milk and bread. I promise."

"Alright. Be careful though, it's almost 10."

"Will do."

Emerald carefully stuck the thin can of pepper spray into her side purse and quickly began to walk off in the direction of the gas station. She pulled out her cellphone and dialed Haley's number. No answer. She pouted, 'Probably with Steve.' The operator transferred her to the answering machine and she sighed, "You called me, and now I'm calling you! Pick up already!" Then she hung up and continued to strut on for about 10 more minutes until she came across the tall street light. Instantly, she began to feel a lot safer watching all the people who were busily walking from work or going else where. After the street light turned red, the little digitalized hand that told her to stop disappeared and she quickly ran across the street to the gas station. "Finally." She mumbled out as she ran in and was comforted by the little bell that alerted the cashier of her presence.

Emerald speed walked to the milk section and then began to examine all the different types of milk and their prices. She furrowed her eyebrows and then looked at a certain brand and muttered out with disbelief.

"Are you kidding me? This milk sucks. Now they're just being stupid and slapping on an expensive price."

She shook her head and then finally pulled out a brand of milk that she approved of and then wandered towards the bread aisle. She smiled with satisfaction upon seeing her favorite bread, her aunt and Gramps loved it too. She pulled it out and then examined it for a bit.

"Oh. My daughter loves that bread." Emerald shifted her eyes up to see a young woman with brunette curly hair and gray eyes. "Ah. My whole family loves this stuff."

The woman then looked down around her legs and then sighed, "Oh dear, she's run off again. What am I gonna with her?"

"I'll help you find her, it's just a gas station, she can't be far." She gave the woman a smile before splitting up and peeking her head in the aisles.

"HELP! He's trying to rob the cash!" The familiar voice of the woman rang in her head and she ran out of an aisle to see her pointing towards a man who had knocked out the cashier with the blunt of of his gun, he had stuffed the bag full of money and was trying to run out when a few locals blocked the door way. The man groaned with annoyance and then suddenly, there were loud gasps and a little girly scream.

"Mommy!"

"My girl! Let go of her!" Another whack, Emerald's eyes widened upon seeing the woman fall to the ground with blood dripping down her cheek.

This ticked her off, 'How dare he?!' Her eyes desperately scanned the rows of candy, she found a large and surprisingly heavy jaw breaker. She stealthily ran out of the aisle to see the man clutching the girl with a choking death grip, he was wildly pointing his gun everywhere. She aimed at his cheek bone and then threw it with the same force she would use to serve a volleyball. It slammed right into the man and he wailed out with a large cry and loosened his grip on the girl's arm. Emerald took the risk and ran right up to him and jerked the young girl away from him, she kneeled down to examine the girl and found heavy rings imprinted on her arm. The girl was hiccuping and crying. "It's alright, I promise."

"Why you little bitch!"

Emerald gasped and glanced to see the man had stuffed his gun in his pocket and was now pulling out a baseball bat. Her eyes widened and she pushed the girl towards a local woman and then scrambled and skidded on the slick tile ground as she began to run into a random aisle. He waved the baseball bat right at her head and she quickly ducked with a scream, 'To think..only a few seconds late..' she grabbed a mini trolley and pushed it at him, and watched as he fell in head first, she held in a chuckle and ran through another aisle and jumped the main counter. She hid under it and desperately looked for a switch or button to signal to the police. She found it and smiled triumphantly as she found on and pressed it, she quickly stood up only to find the gun right on her forehead, the coldness of it shivered down her spine and she she stared with wide eyes at the man who's lip was split open. He held the bag of cash tightly to him and smirked at her.

"Too bad you pissed me off. It's a waste seeing such a pretty face all dead and bleeding."

There was a familiar popping noise and then that sticky web material that she had seen before tugged on the gun, pulling it out of the mugger's hand. She gasped to see Spider-man on the wall. Yes..on the wall.

"This is why women run away from you. You know, I think you should take this advice…get some anger management help. Or..or you can get one of those stress ball things. You squeeze them and their eyes pop out. A big help you know."

"Shut up you freak!"

The man pulled out the baseball bat, she ducked under the counter and figured that Spider-man would take care of the rest. She kneeled next to the cashier to find that it was one of the students in her Anatomy class. She felt for his pulse, 'Thank god.' She gently tried to pick him up and TRIED to ignore the yells of pain and rolling cans, she slung an arm over her shoulder and began to drag him away from the counter. The boy's head was bleeding. Though Emerald was glad to see that one of the locals took the risk of grabbing a first aid kit and helping the woman with the child. The woman looked up at Emerald after her cheek was bandaged and her daughter was in her arms. "Thank you so much for helping me. What can I do to repay you."

There was another yell from the mugger, she winced and then chuckled once she realized that he sounded like one of those storm troopers that fell off of cliffs and stuff. 'He should consider auditioning for sound effects.'

"It's alright. I'm just glad to see that everyone is ok."

There was a thud and everyone turned their attention to see that the mugger was knocked out and wrapped up in the sticky web material. She wrinkled her nose and then jumped to see Spider-man jump down in front of her from the wall. She cocked her head to the side.

"What a coincidence."

"I'd say the same to you, _Spider-man_."

"Do you tend to run into trouble?"

"No, not really. But it's been happening a lot lately. I think you jinxed me. Thanks a lot."

"Hey. I don't do anything but save lives."

"Sure."

There were sirens sounding and soon the flashing red and blue lights reflected off of everyone's face.

"I think that's my que to leave."

"Why? You just saved everyone here."

"I think I'm going to give that credit to you. Besides, the cops don't really like me."

"Well then, I need to get going and I don't want to be involved. Sneak out?"

"Sneak out."

Quickly, Spider-man grabbed her hand and they both ran out of the broken back door.

"It's rude to vandalize gas stations, Spidey."

"Hey. I think you would be dead if I didn't break this door."

"True. True."

"Please tell me that you're not stealing that bread and milk."

"No. I left some money on the counter."

"Are you being sarcastic?"

"No."

"Since you need to be getting home now, and it's almost past your curfew. Want a ride?"

"You don't have a car."

"Did web swinging ever occur to you?"

"Woah. What? W-wait! I'm not re-"

Spider-man did not give a minute's hesitance and quickly grabbed her by the waist and pulled up into the air. Emerald's eyes widened and she shut her eyes, daring not to look at how high they were above ground. "Open your eyes." He said out in a soft tone, she shook her head and gripped onto him tighter, her arms were wrapped around his neck. "It's ok. You don't honestly think that I'd drop you?"

"Well no."

"Then open them."

She breathed in and out before opening them to find that they were swinging through Forest Hills, her eyes widened upon seeing the open lights and dazzling houses, she laughed out and then scanned the lines of houses for hers. "I told you that it wasn't so bad."

"This is amazing. I can't believe that you can do all of this. How?"

"That's for another time to tell, I believe this is your stop."

They landed with a soft thump, she stared with shock at her front door and then turned to look at Spider-man to already find his glassy golden eyes staring back at her.

"How did you know where I lived?"

"Spider-sense."

"Right. Well..Thank you, AGAIN,"

She smiled and then used her free hand to hold it out for him to shake. She obviously couldn't tell if he was smiling or not, but instincts told her he was. He gently shook hers and nodded,

"I have a feeling that I'll be seeing you again, and soon."

"I do too. Goodnight." She smiled one last time before entering her her house and closing the door gently behind her. Emerald walked into the kitchen to find Rosi talking with Gramps, "Oh you've go the groceries! Goodie!"

"Yes. Here you go. Um. I'm gonna go off to bed, school tomorrow."

"Alright sweetheart, goodnight!"

"Night!"

Emerald ran up the stairs and then opened her cellphone to find a message from Haley, she was apologizing.

_'It's ok! It's ok! You'll never believe what happened!'_

_'Is is Spider-man?'_

_"Yes!'_

_'Again!'_

_"Listen up…'_

**~OOO~**

***A/N: OUUUUUUU! I was glad to see all the favs and reviews! I swear to you, I was doing my little happy dance and cheering..of course to myself with no one else in the house! XD Anyway, thank you to all the reviewers, I appreciate the lovely comments, and I'm glad that you are liking Emerald as well as the story. I'm glad to hear that I'm doing well with Peter and Gwen's mannerisms. Anyway, you know the usual disclaimer! Please review and fav to your heart's content! I'll be seeing you in the next chapter!****


	4. The Race

**Twisted**

**Chapter 4: The Race**

"**It's never too late for stalking." **

― **Madeleine Urban**

**~OOO~**

"Emerald! Em, honey! Wakey, wakey!" Rosi's voice sounded from the outside her room.

Emerald groaned, she opened her eyes slightly and stared at the alarm clock with hate. It was only 9:30 am. And on a Saturday, for god's sake! Her door creaked open and she shut her eyes again. This was a daily Saturday routine. "Em. Sweetie, you've got to go to work. Remember? Howie's Photo Supplies?"

"Ughh..Rosi. I know my destination of work. You don't really have to remind me every Saturday."

"Well. If you didn't look so dead in your sleep, I probably wouldn't say a thing. I'm always fearful that whenever you wake up, you forget who you are."

"What?! I don't act like that!"

"You obviously haven't used the mirror, have you?"

"Alright. Alright…"

"Hmph. I know that's not going to get you up, last time you said that, you were almost late."

Suddenly, the sheets were removed from her legs, and her Aunt had grabbed her ankles and was pulling her out of bed, shocked and unprepared for the sudden jolt, Emerald was literally dragged out of bed until she found herself on the floor, amidst in the comforter.

"Ouch! Rosi!"

"This will happen every Saturday for as long as you live here and until you find a way to get yourself up." Then her Aunt strutted out of the room, closing the door gently behind her.

Emerald sat up on the floor and tousled her hair around for a bit and crawled to her closet. She finally stood up and shifted through it, looking for something comfortable to wear. It was finally getting cold outside. After some thinking, she thought she would go with a deep blue sweater with a black cami, some black jeans and her combat boots. She grabbed the clothing and then sighed, she really didn't have the strength to keep walking. Emerald got down on all fours and crawled her way to the bathroom.

**~OOO~**

Emerald pulled her backpack up onto her shoulders and strapped her camera case securely before resting it on her shoulder. 'It's a good thing I have work. Now I'll be able to work with Peter's photo.' She nodded to reassure herself and then gulped down the last of her hot coco before deciding that she needed some fresh air. Well…air in general. NYC's air wasn't all that fresh. Emerald walked outside and stood on the middle of her drive way and looked all around her. It was a beautiful day, a bit chilly, but beautiful. She looked down at her camera, toying with the strap before holding it up to her face and turning it on, she decided that she was bored and looked through the viewfinder for anything interesting. Emerald found herself turning the camera up, down, sideways, upside down until….finally. She saw something that peaked her interest…very much. Her eyes widened as she looked through the viewfinder, seeing that familiar red and blue getup. But this time, no mask. 'Damn it! His back is to me! I can't even see his face! Turn around goddamn it!' She had the urge to scream out at the local web swinger. All she was seeing was his back and the back of a brunette head. 'And in broad daylight…hmph?'

"Emerald?!" Rosi's voice could be heard as she slammed the front door shut.

Emerald fumbled to catch her DSLR and caught it at the last second, she fumbled to look at the screen. Her face wrinkled and she shook her head, he was turned towards the camera alright, but it was freaking BLURRY! Emerald looked back up at where she saw him to see…nothing. She let out a strangled sigh before composing herself and turning towards her aunt with a bright yet scary smile. Her aunt gave her a strange look before opening Gramp's car. "What happened to you under a few seconds? That smile is scaring me, sweetie." Emerald laughed and then shook her head while walking over to Rosi as she sat down in the front seat and started the car, "Taking Gramp's car? Did he take the bus again?" Rosi nodded and then tossed her the keys to the second car, "Yep. Now be careful, ok? We both won't be here till after 11:00 pm. You'll be ok in the house alone, right?" Emerald sighed and then rested a hand on her hip, giving Rosi 'The Look'. Rosi chuckled and nodded her head, "I'll take that as a yes." Soon, the car along with Rosi were out of sight.

Emerald struggled to turn on her camera again, she looked down at the picture she took and pouted. 'I was so close to finding out who he was. Had to wear a mask, huh?'

"You know, if you really wanted a picture of me…you could have said so. Emerald."

Emerald screamed out, almost dropping her camera again only to have Spider-man catch it with his super fast reflexes. She sighed with relief and gently took the camera back from him. Then she looked up to see him folding his arms across his chest and cocking his head to the side.

"What?! I-I wasn't taking a picture of anything! Besides, how did you even know I was outside?"

"Spider sense."

"That same excuse, huh?"

"…"

Emerald looked into his glassy yellow lenses and then shook her head after a while, she closed her camera and tucked it into it's bag.

"Well, now that I AM ready to take a picture. Why not take it?"

She looked up to see Spider-man striking a…strange pose. And by strange. She meant a pose where he was TRYING to be sexy.

"Oh god. Please stop. My eyes will fall out."

"Now that was just cruel. I'm that repulsive?"

"I never said you were repulsive."

"But you clearly said that your eyes would fall out."

"I was obviously exaggerating. I don't even know what you look like! I can't really determine if your repulsive or not if I haven't seen your face!"

"And you probably won't be seeing it for a while too."

"I had a feeling you were going to say that." Emerald sighed, 'I was this close to getting a face shot. Rosi just had to scare me. She just HAD to.'

"So. Why are you so dressed up on a Saturday?"

"I'd say the same to you, Spider-boy."

"Hey….hey…no need to get fierce. I was just curious."

"I have a life you know." Emerald looked down at her watch and her eyes nearly bulged out, she gasped and then ran to her car, opening the door.

"Hey! Where are you going?!"

"No time to talk! I gotta go! Nice seeing you Spidey!" She slammed the door and quickly started the engine, carefully stomping down on the pedal to pull the car out of the drive way. She put the gear on drive and quickly sped out of her neighborhood and towards the shopping center of Forest Hills. She sighed with relief when she realized that she was right on schedule and that she wouldn't be late to work. Emerald turned on her CD player and began singing along with Determinate from Lemonade Mouth. She loved that song, it was stuck in her head lately. Soon she was shaking her head and whipping her hair around during the red light. "Determinate! Determinate! You and me together we can make it better!"

"You almost ran me over, Miss Determinate!"

She let out a scream and looked in the mirror to find Spider-man all lax and normal in her backseat. His feet were propped up and his arms were behind his head. "What the hell are you doing in my car?! How did you even get in here!?"

"That is for you to find out."

"GET OUTTA MY CAR!"

"What's the rush?"

"I have to go work!"

"Green light."

She turned her head to glare at him and then turned it back and sped up to catch up with the green light, she made a right turn only to have another red light stop her.

"Now…why are you stalking me?!" She composed herself and then looked up at the mirror to find him shaking his head to the beat, there was a slight chuckle from him until he finally spoke.

"Disney girl?"

"Just answer the question before I run you over."

"I was bored. I saw you and then I thought about how entertaining you are."

Her face flared up with embarrassment and anger, "That's it…that's the only reason you decided to almost cause a car crash?"

"Hey! I can't help the fact that you're a very distracted person!"

"I am NOT!"

"You just can't keep your eyes off of me."

"Do you want to be hung along a flagpole?"

"No. Not exactly, besides, you couldn't even do it if you tried."

"What makes you so damn sure?!"

"Super reflexes and fighting abilities. Remember?"

"You just LOVE to hear yourself talk, don't you?"

"Nailed it."

She sighed with frustration and then pulled up into the parking lot in front of Howie's Photo Supplies. She smiled slightly upon seeing the antique looking photography shop. 'Heaven.' She turned her head, expecting to see him still nodding his head along to her CD..only to find that he was gone. He wasn't there. She sighed with relief and then pulled out her camera bag and keys, she walked out, locking her car. She heard a loud yell of, "WOOHOO!" And stared up to find him web swinging away, probably off to save someone's life. She smirked slightly and then entered the shop right on time.

"Hey Howie!" A big man of about his mid 50's turned to see his bright employee and smiled while patting her back, he was almost like her father. Maybe more like a father figure. "Hey! There's little Em. You made it. Traffic?" She hesitated for a moment and then nodded slightly while rubbing the back of her neck, "Yes. Just a bit distracted." Howie smiled and then pointed to the Mac PC, that was where they made all their transactions and stuff. It had Photoshop so all Emerald had to do was plug in her flash drive and open up Peter's portrait in Photoshop and start editing.

"Any customers?" She plugged in her flash drive and then took a second to look at Howie's tall figure.

The man nodded his head, "It's been a bit busy, it's cooled down now. But they'll come back near the afternoon. Don't worry."

Emerald laughed and then nodded as she pulled up Peter's picture on Photoshop. She began examining it and experimenting with it with a bunch of Filters and gadgets. There was a chuckle behind her and she turned her head to see Howie watching her edit. "Boyfriend?"

Emerald's eyes widened as she choked on her own spit and coughed along until she felt composed. "Pardon?!"

"He's handsome."

"I guess."

"So. Is he special?"

"Not really, a friend actually. We have this project in Advanced Photo. I'm just editing his picture to make it all nice."

"Alright. That's a nice Filter, don't do too much to the picture. Maybe just a bit more sharpness and it'll be good. How about this, you work extra hard, and I'll let you print the picture here. For free."

"Ah! You mean it, Howie?!"

"Anything for you, Em."

"Thank you so much! I won't let you down!" She saved the edited photo onto her flash drive and pulled it out, tucking it into her camera bag and looking up to find a customer.

**~OOO~**

Emerald sighed with tiredness as she watched the last customer walk out, it was closing time now. 7:00 pm. Emerald rested her hands on the counter top to feel a papery envelope under her fingers, she jerked her head down to find a hand written name on the blank side. She cocked her head to the side, it was for her. 'Well. This is new.' She heard footsteps coming towards her and turned to Howie with a confused expression etched into her features. "Howie? What's this?" He looked up from something in his hands and then walked up next to her and stared down at the mysterious envelope. "Ah. That came by this morning, I forgot to tell you, it's for you so I didn't intrude."

"I appreciate that, Howie."

"It's a matter of privacy. Well, a deal's a deal. Here's your picture."

She gently took the beautiful glossy print paper from him and smiled down at the Photoshopped picture of Peter. She cocked her head to the side and nodded before carefully pulling out a folder from her bag and gently shifting it in. She turned to look down at the enigma of a letter and picked it up once more. She began to inch closer to the front door and then waved a hand, "I'll see you tomorrow, Howie!"

"See you too, lassie! You're getting paid tomorrow too, don't forget!"

"That's great! See you!"

Then she walked out to the chilled air of NYC and then closed her eyes tightly as she felt her nose automatically freeze up. 'Ah! Damn it! It always happens!' She breathed out and watched as a tiny blob of air escaped her and visibly appeared before her. She shook her head and then unlocked her car and slammed the door shut. She stared down at the letter with slightly narrowed eyes, she began to quickly rip the envelope.

**Midtown Science High Kids!**

**It's Tiffany and Sophie! **

**"We're holding a race tonight, yes, a race with cars. Guess what the best part is! There are cars provided for willing racers! Sophie's father is trying to advertise his new models to the teenage world and what better way then by contacting local high schoolers! 1st place winner will receive $10,000, 2nd: $5,000, and 3rd: $500! But remember, if you are coming, this is to be kept secret. From everyone, this race is not authorized and will be held in a deserted area. If you are interested, just follow the directions below and be there at 8 pm sharp! Can't wait!"**

Emerald's eyes sparked with mischief as the prizes caught her eyes. She smiled slightly, 'This could help us easily pay a couple month's worth of bills! I gotta enter this race! One way or another! But first. I should show Haley!' The names of the girls also seemed familiar. She cocked her head to the side and gasped as they clicked, 'It's the girls from my PE class. They were on Flash's team!' Emerald quickly threw her car to drive and sped carefully along towards Haley's house in Forest Hills.

**~OOO~**

"Soo?! What do you think?!" Emerald stared at her confused friend with excitement and a tad bit of crazy in her eyes.

"What do I think? What do I think?! I think you're nuts! I can't believe you want to go to this! Do you know how much trouble you could get in to! What if you got hurt?! What would Rosi do?!"

"Jesus, Haley. What's with the sudden sensibility?"

"God! Enough jokes, Em! Ever since that incident that happened to you on your way home from the party…I've been a bit more alert and scarred."

Emerald stopped smiling and then gave her worried friend a soft smile, she hugged her and then replied back after a few moments. "Everything will be ok. I can handle myself you know. And besides, that Spider-man will probably find me again."

"Again?"

"Well…yeah. We had a bit of a run in this morning."

"What?! What happened? Tell me! Did you kiss?!"

"WHAT?! Oh god, no, nothing like that. I was going to go to work when he magically popped up and started talking to me. And then I almost ran him over and he somehow had gotten into my car as I was driving to work."

"Woah! I told you he was stalking you!"

"He is NOT. It's just a..coincidence."

"Ok, Now you're just in denial."

"I am not!"

"Are too."

"Oh crap! I gotta get going! I'm going to drive by the house and drop off the car, I think I'll walk there. It's actually very close."

"I think I've rubbed off on you."

"You think? I think I'm just letting out my more curious and adventurous side."

"No..I think you've officially gone crazy."

"Oh goodbye already!"

**~OOO~**

"Oh Sophie! Look! It's the girl who kicked Flash's ass!" Emerald fake smiled at both Tiffany and Sophie as they turned to greet her, and in the most snobby way.

"Right. What..what was your name again?" Tiffany stared at her outfit with a slight sneer/fake smile.

The green eyed rebel narrowed her eyes at the two before smirking and replying with a bit of venom in her voice, "Emerald."

"Ah! Right, you have such a pretty name!" Sophie gushed awkwardly.

"Is that your real hair color?!" Tiffany cocked her head to the side while slightly flicking a strand of Emerald's wavy long hair.

"Yes. It is, I don't dye my hair. It'll fall out faster, I prefer natural things." She smiled as one of the girls put a hand up to her hair and stared at her with a frightened look.

It was silent for a while until Tiffany cleared her throat and pointed her manicured finger at a certain direction, "If you're here to sign up for the race, the table is that way."

Emerald nodded and quickly retreated from the two girls as fast as she could, she looked around at all the model cars with the cool flame body art and nice vivid colors with spoilers and nice wheels. 'Crud. I should've brought my camera!' She cursed herself and clutched her side purse closer to herself as she finally stood behind a tall boy with the word 'Swag' shaved into the back of his head. She stared at it with confusion and shook her head, 'That's new.'

"Next." Said a rather large man from his seat. He had a pen and a sheet of paper with a bunch of names on it, she walked up to the table and raised her eyebrows at the man.

"ID please."

"Really?" She snorted with a smirk on her face.

The man stared up at her with annoyance, "Yes. Really."

"I don't really see why, I mean, this is basically an illegal race, what's the point?"

He stared at her with a dull look on his face, but then there was also a mix of hate and tiredness. "Look chick. It's either you sign up, or you don't. Which one is it?"

"Fine. Keep your pants on." She bent over and began to scribble down her name on the paper and pen he offered her. She walked out of the line after she showed her ID and began to walk towards a line of cars until a guy stopped her, he stared at her with a smile.

"What?"

"Oh! Sorry. Hi. I'm Jack. From our Anatomy class?"

She furrowed her eyebrows for a second but then they shot up as she recognized him as the guy who worked at the gas station, that mugger had knocked him out. "Ah! Jack! Hey. What..are you doing here?" She smiled up at his cute features which consisted of bright gray eyes and black straight hair that was spiked up, whenever he smiled, little dimples popped up. She couldn't help but stare at them.

"I volunteered to help the racers to their assigned cars."

"Well, that fat bag at the table failed to mention that."

He let out a loud chuckle and then rested his hand on the curve of her back, pushing her forwards, "Ya. He's a scrooge, don't mind him though. Come on. You've got a pretty decent car." Now she was excited to see her car, they walked on for a few more minutes until they finally stopped at a beauty. Her jaw dropped and she stared at the Chevy Camaro with a dumbstruck look. It was the new model, but newer. More upgraded with high tech gadgets and illegal speed boosters. She smirked, 'Of course.' Emerald turned to see Jack writing down something and sticking it to the car, then he handed her one as well, "You're number 20. The race won't be starting until 8:30. So you're good for a while. Good luck, Blondie." Emerald's eyes widened as she saw him grin her way and walk off with a quick wink. She felt the heat rush to her face, she smiled as well but then quickly pinched herself to reality. "Alright, calm down, girl. Fast and Furious, here I come!"

Emerald walked away from the cars and leaned against a deserted warehouse, watching all the guests and teenagers chatter away, smoke and drink. She sighed deeply and stared down at her phone, then she looked back up only to feel a hand clamp over her mouth, she let out a muffled scream and tried her best to kick as she was led around the back of the warehouse. She finally bit down only to feel a strange spandex material. "Ouch!"

"Spider-man?! What the HELL are you doing here?!"

"I had a bad feeling when I got that letter in the mail. You suddenly popped up into my head and behold, here you are! Making trouble!"

"I am not making trouble!"

"I wouldn't be surprised if you ate a bowl of Troublemaker every morning."

"So! You go to Midtown!" This sparked her curiosity to a whole new level, a clue! There was a slight hesitation from him and she knew that she had nailed it.

"…Yes. But that's not the point! I'm getting you out of here before something bad happens!"

"Nothing is going to happen! Look at how deserted this place is!"

Emerald knew that she just had to stop talking. Suddenly there were sirens wailing and the voices of policemen echoed all the way to the back of the warehouse. Her eyes widened and she stared up to see Spider-man crossing his arms across his chest and cocking his head to the side. "Don't give me that look! I can't help the jinx!"

"I'm getting you out of here and that's final."

"Wait!"

"WHAT could possibly be anymore important than escape, Emerald?!"

"Tho-those papers! The papers with all the participants!"

"AND?!"

"People will get into trouble, including me!"

"Well, you should have thought before you idiotically decided to come here!"

"SPIDEY!"

"Fine!"

"Cover me!" She turned away from him and ran out, dodging the screaming and yelling crowd of teenagers, she ran and ran until she finally saw the desk. And there! The papers! She jumped over an unconscious and trampled teenager until she finally managed to get to the table. Emerald swiped the papers up in her arms and yelped as Spider-man quickly wrapped an arm around her waist and lifted her up into the air. Soon they were retreating from the deserted yet caught area. "So much for the grand prize."

"You're worried about the money?! When you could have been arrested for illegal operations!"

"Can you at least hear me out before coming to conclusions?!" She yelled out as they now swung into the more city part of Forest Hills. The pace of the web swinging was giving her heart mini flips and cartwheels, she gripped onto Spider-man's shoulders a bit tighter.

"..Talk."

"I thought that if I could at least earn some kind of cash, it would make my Aunt and Grandpa's life a bit more easier and lax..at least for a few months. They wouldn't be going all crazy for the bills every time. I just want them to relax a little. I want to spend a WHOLE day with them. I hate it when they always come back home late. It just isn't right. But what am I complaining for? Other people have it worse than I do." She rested her head against his neck awkwardly and sighed deeply, trying to block off the emerging emotions and tears.

There was silence…and then he finally spoke after a while of hesitation.

"I'm sorry for being so mean to you. I was just worried."

"Worried, about little old me?"

"You're pushing it, Emerald."

"Sorry. Thank you though. I appreciate all that you've been "coincidentally" doing." Emerald smiled at the slight chuckle that she received from him, she closed her eyes for a while when she felt the vibrations from his throat tickle her skin.

"Anytime. But what are you going to do with those participant papers?"

She sighed and then opened her eyes and turned to see that they were in her neighborhood now, "I'm going to burn them, so that there is no evidence."

"So you did lie about being illegal."

"…"

"Ah ha!"

"Oh just hush." They both chuckled gently and finally, with one big jump, they had landed at her front porch yet again. She rummaged through her side purse and pulled out her house keys. Then she took a quick glance to check the time, "9:00. Great."

"What's up?"

"They won't be home until after 11."

"Oh. Wow."

"Tell me about it."

There was yet another moment of silence, she's been having that lately, and with a lot of people. Which was starting to really bug her actually.

"Do you want to drink some hot coco with me?"

"Are you asking me out?"

"No. I'm just asking for some friendly company."

"Ah."

"Or are you busy?"

"As long as the police scanner stays silent, I'm free."

"Alright. Well, come on in. And try not to scare the bird."

"You have a bird?"

"Yep! She's an Eclectus!"

"Oh..my..god. She's red and blue."

"She can be your sidekick."

"Cozy place."

"Sit down, I'll put on a movie and start on the coco."

"Sounds dandy!"

She smirked at his comment and then threw a couple of CD's at him which he automatically caught and began to shuffle through. Then she strutted into the kitchen and pulled out Dunkin Donut's hot coco packets. She LOVED their hot chocolate. Nothing could beat theirs. Her opinion though.

**~OOO~**

***A/N: You don't know how HAPPY I was to see all the favs and reviews! Well, actually, you probably do. Nevermind what I said! Lol. But you get what I mean! I was seriously doing my happy dance every single time I saw something. Thank you SOOO much, you faithful reviewers! I really do hope to see you again! **

**spider-man fan: Thank you sooo much! I'm so glad to see that you are liking Emerald so far! I wanted to make her personality as likable as possible! I'm trying, see! XD Anyway, I was actually planning on Emerald finding out BEFORE she fell in love with Spidey/Peter. I have an image in my head and I'm planning to make it accidental and dramatic! I can't wait, but that won't be for a while..a very long while. So hold on for a bit! Anyway, thank you soooooooo much for the lovely review!**

**BubbleGum Crisis: Thank you sooo much for the review! I really appreciate it! I'm glad to hear that you are liking the scenes in the story, to be honest, it takes me a while to imagine some funny and corny lines to put into the story...I seriously have to be just sitting there and thinking silently before I can come up with something. XD But I think I failed to mention this, which I'm sorry for, I should have put it as a note or something, but this takes place AFTER the incident with Dr. Curt Conners, so post movie. I basically took the promise that Peter made and made it true, so far, Gwen and Peter are just awkward friends that still have feelings for one another. I was thinking of making some kind of scenes with them, you know, to make it dramatic and realistic. In my opinion, I don't want it to be ALL about Emerald. Anyway, thank you so much again for the lovely review! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter as well!**

**I can't wait for the next chapter! Fav and Review to your heart's content, see you later!****


	5. Walk in the Park

**Twisted**

**Chapter 5: Walk in the Park**

**"I have had more trouble with myself than with any other man. "**

**-Dwight L. Moody **

**~OOO~**

Emerald sat there tap, tap, tapping away with her pencil against her notebook. They were loud irritating thuds against her paper but she didn't give a care as she rested her head in her palm and stared at the dry erase board with a deadpan look. She stopped tapping for a moment as her Honors Physics teacher, Mrs. Hazel, continued to write on the board. She looked around at all her classmates who also awaited her attention, most clicked and tapped away on their cellphones. Taking the freebie greedily. To her right she had Gwen, directly behind her was Peter and right next to him was Flash. They were whispering quietly, occasionally, Flash did get a bit louder. She rolled her eyes and started tapping her pencil again. 'Probably some testosterone fueled debate.' She smirked at her remark and then jolted when she felt Gwen jab the bony part of her elbow right into her rib cage. "You'll get into trou-"

"Ms. Smith, by god, if you don't stop tapping that pencil, I will have to reprimand it from you."

Emerald looked up to find Mrs. Hazel stare at her for a second and then look away with an annoyed expression.

"I'll just pull out another one." Emerald muttered under her breath. There was a scoff from Flash and a slight hiss from Gwen.

"What was that, Ms. Smith?"

"Oh..nothing! Actually. I was talking to Gwen here about how…lovely your hair is." There was a loud snicker from Flash and she slightly turned to glare at him, also expressing to him that he had to play along.

Mrs. Hazel turned around with a slight grin on her face, as if she was truly surprised to hear that. Well, what 50 year old woman wouldn't be? She held the marker up mid-air and cocked her head to the side.

"R-really?"

Emerald nodded fast and looked around at her other classmates that seemed to do the same, there were loud mumbles of "Totally or Yeah."

"Of course, Mrs. Hazel. I mean..I could try as hard as I wanted to. But I would never be able to make my hair curl up and balance on my head like that, now that is some true talent."

Mrs. Hazel smiled brightly and then slightly fanned herself as if the paparazzi were swarming around her like an ocean of fruit flies.

"Oh. Well. Thank you so much, Ms. Smith. I appreciate it." Then she put the book down and toyed with her hair for a few moments before raising a finger and pointing to the board, "I will be right back, continue to copy these notes down."

The room was silent for a moment until Peter leaned in towards her shoulder and muttered loudly, "How lovely was her hair?"

Then Gwen turned towards her with a sweet smile on her face, Emerald smirked. "Yes. I'm very curious. Don't leave out the details. Ms. Smith."

Emerald turned her head away from the three around her and then looked around to find the whole class eagerly staring at her with puffed up smiles and glitter in their eyes. Emerald shrugged and then turned towards Gwen while at the same time, she had the ability to view Flash and Peter from the corner of her eyes. Emerald batted her mascara coated eyelashes crazily and gave a big silly smile.

"So very lovely. I mean, who wouldn't want that extra bounce and crazy amount of hair gel?!"

The whole room cracked up finally from holding their breaths and she smirked at the three friends around her until they all turned back towards the board and began to write the notes just as Mrs. Hazel walked in.

"It looks like she added another can of hair gel." Flash whispered under his breath.

"Ha. It seems so." Emerald replied with a silent snort.

There was rapping on the board and they looked up from their finished notes.

"Alright, class. Let's look a little more closely at these Velocity-Time graphs."

**~OOO~**

Emerald slowly dodged the people walking to and fro their lockers, she ducked as a boy was struggling to balance a pile of books and notes, she strutted up to her locker and began to spin in her combination. '24-16-20'. With a satisfying click she opened up the shutter like locker and stuffed in the binders that she didn't need. As she shuffled through her locker for necessary materials, a certain someone decided to lounge next to her locker, with the door threatening to slam in his face. She sighed heavily and moved the locker shutter a few inches away from his face.

"Hey."

"What do you want, Flash?"

"…nothing."

"Then why are you here?"

"Well..I kind of did have something to say."

"Ok.."

She slammed her locker door shut and stuffed her necessary items into her bag and zipped it up, slinging it across her back, she turned to find Flash right at her tail. Walking alongside her in the direction to her next class. Flash awkwardly stuffed his hands into his pockets before staring down at her to find her looking up at him with a slightly annoyed look.

"Right. Listen, Em."

"It's Emerald."

"I can't call you Em?"

"…Well. Fine."

"Ok. EM. Listen, I know we got off on the wrong foot."

"Very wrong foot.."

"Ok. Yeah. Whatever. What I'm trying to say is that I'm sorry if I seemed to be acting like a jerk towards you. I hope you didn't take it personally..it's just..it's just-"

"It's just how you are. Correct?" She smirked to find him smirking back down at her.

"Yeah. So…are we friends for sure?" He turned towards her and stuck out his large hand for her to shake. She stared down it and then up at his lean/muscular figure. If you really look past his annoying attitude, he was actually a very..very attractive person. She stared up at his pretty blue eyes and nodded with a content smile, finally allowing his hand to engulf her's in a friendly and gentle hand shake.

"Did anyone ever tell you how soft your hands are?"

She stared back at him with a bit of bewilderment, a blush crept to her cheeks, and she stared up to find him already grinning at her display of embarrassment.

"J-just go to class, Flash." She smirked and then pushed him away and strutted off while turning her head to find him walking backwards and waving a hand.

"See you later, Kat!"

Emerald rolled her eyes and clutched the straps of her book bag a bit closer as she closed in on her next class…Math. Wonderful.

**~OOO~**

Emerald shifted through her homework at a sluggish and annoyed pace. She pulled her slightly wavy/straight hair up into a pony tail and checked her Math work before finally finishing all her homework and roughly stuffing her binders and notebooks in her book bag. She put her book bag in the closet next to the front door and briefly stared out to find that the sun was beginning to set. She pouted and whirled around on her heel, "Blast you, homework. Who was the idiot who decided it was alright to make students' lives harder?!" She clucked her tongue and then walked into the kitchen, just realizing that she hadn't eaten anything since she got home. She opened up the fridge and pantry at the same time to shift her attention to both one at a time.

"Hmm..noodles..veggies…nooo…hmm…no chicken? Jeez, she just wants to make sure that there is nothing unhealthy to eat!"

Emerald clucked her tongue yet again and then closed both of the doors and decided to grab her purse, she was deciding on walking out when she stopped as an interesting headline from the Daily Bugle caught her shiver inducing green eyes. She narrowed them and then strutted over to the neatly folded newspaper table in the parlor and picked it up.

**PHOTOGRAPHERS NEEDED: PLEASE BRING IN CAPTIVATING AND PROFESSIONAL PHOTOS OF INTEREST TO BE CONSIDERED. SPEAK WITH J. JONAH JAMESON. $50 FOR EACH WORTHY PICTURE. $10 EXTRA FOR PICTURES OF THE NOTORIOUS SPIDER-MAN!**

Her eyes sparked with interest and mischief. Then her eyes laid on the word **notorious** yet again. She narrowed her eyes and cocked her head to the side, causing her pony tail to bounce to the side. "He is definitely not notorious, maybe wanted…but for stupid reasons. I am definitely against this. I won't hesitate to tell this Jameson person either." She bit her pink bow shaped lips and then set the newspaper down and stuffed her house keys into her purse along with her credit card. Then she opened up the closet that had her book bag in it and shuffled through it until she pulled out her camera from it's bag and strapped it around her neck. Then she dug through the closet until she found her black white laced converse and tied them on. "Off I go."

Emerald quickly shuffled into the city part of Forest Hills and decided to take the subway to the main city, there were probably many interesting things in New York. NY itself was quite the masterpiece. Emerald pulled out a subway token and slid it into the machine which bleeped and clicked, allowing her to pass through the metal detectors without any hassle whatsoever. She stopped at the waiting area where the other folks waited. She sighed and looked down at her watch, 'Is there ever a time where any kind of public transport is early? We need a bullet train.' She lowered her hand and grinned with relief upon seeing the subway quickly pull up. The heavy breeze from the subway's many trailers whirled her tied hair around her face, she gripped her purse tightly and then boarded when the doors slid open.

**-TIME SKIP-**

Emerald plugged in her iPod earbuds and scrolled through her list of songs until she found the one she wanted, then she leaned against the wall of the subway and sighed with relaxation. It was usually quiet on the subways, no one bothered anyone and everyone usually minded their own business…usually. Emerald quietly nodded her head to the song and stared out the window of the subway, she was close to her stop, subways were usually used for close stops. For some odd reason, drowsiness was beginning to overtake her. Maybe it was the slight tumble and wobbling of the subway. Emerald closed her eyes and exhaled, calming her mind as if she was at one of her Yoga classes. Then her eyebrows knitted together as she felt the space next to her warm up. The heat of whoever sat next to her was disturbing her and it felt as if the person was getting closer and closer. Or was it her imagination? She snapped her eyes open to find a man of about his early 30's reaching a hand out to her face, she let out a startled gasp and was about to react when someone did that for her.

Her eyes found a skinny yet toned arm and then she traced her eyes down to his hand which was in a death grip with the man's wrist. The man jumped a bit and turned his head up to what she found a familiar figure from Midtown Science High. "I don't think she would like a creepy guy touching her face without her consent."

Emerald swapped her wide green eyes up at Peter and slightly smirked at the man's reaction as Peter lifted the man up without much struggle and pushed him aside, out of the subway seat. He plopped down next to her with his funny ear to ear grin. She cocked her head to the side and then knitted her eyebrows together. "Peter? What are you doing here? I didn't expect to find you around here..or at least not now."

"Just hanging around. I was going to go to the…um..library." He gave her a funny toothy grin before pulling out a Physics book and starting on a problem.

Emerald shook her head and raised an eyebrow, 'Hanging around…sounds familiar. And so does his voice…where have I heard it before?' She decided to shrug it off for now for it wasn't that big of a deal.

"So. What are YOU doing on the subway at this time, now, that's a good question." She snapped back to reality after hearing him question her.

She smirked at his face and then looked down, switching her iPod on shutdown before giving him her full attention, "Well. I was going to go out and get some takeout, then I was deciding to go around..and take pictures..you know, just the norm."

"Norm? What kind of pictures..?"

"…Interesting pictures."

"Something weird is happening in the pit of my stomach."

"Umm..well, there's no bathroom over here. I can check to see if anyone has a plastic bag they want to give up."

"That's not what I meant!" He couldn't help but chuckle out, the vibrations from his voice sent strange chills down her spine that tickled her stomach, causing her to laugh as well.

"Oh. Then what did you mean? Mr. Specific?"

"I meant that I didn't have a good feeling about what you're saying."

"Then you could've said that instead of complicating the statement."

"Hmmm…I could have."

"A-and by the way. There's nothing to worry about."

"Your fidgeting and expressions tell me otherwise. You're up to something, and I won't leave your side for a second until I find out what."

"Oh…come on! Do you honestly think that…!"

"You want honest. Then..yes. I do think that, you are a BIG troublemaker, and I've only known you for a few days!"

"Whatever, you're just being a worry wart."

"Wart?"

"Yes, wart."

"I find that offensive."

Something clicked in her mind but she shrugged it off again before turning to him and giving him one of her sarcastic glares.

"Why, Mr. Parker, do you find that offensive?"

"Am I that repulsive?"

She stared at him with wide eyes before cocking her head to the side and then shaking her head to return back to reality.

"No, silly. It's just a phrase."

"Sooo…you think I'm cute?"

"I never said that!"

"So I'm not charming?"

"I didn't say that either!"

"Now you're admitting that I am cute!? God, Emerald, why do you have to be so confusing!?" Emerald stared at him with confusion, 'He's good at messing with a person's head, I'll give him that!'

"Am I going to have to throw you out of this subway?"

"You would throw me out..?! Out to be ran over by god knows what?! I didn't k-know that you could be so cruel!" Then he made a face as if he would start crying, she was seriously getting annoyed now. Emerald stared dead into his eyes with a deadpan look and then crossed her arms across her chest. Suddenly, his laughter caused her to jolt, she stared at him with an expressionless look and then began to toy with her camera.

"Peter. Now I'm just worried, did you..you know…get high before getting on this trailer?" She seriously stared at him with a concerned look. He stared back and then chuckled some more.

"No, Em, it's nothing. I was just joking with you, I'm feeling very light headed and happy right know. That's all."

"O-ok..because for a moment. I was seriously worried."

"There's nothing to be worried about." He genuinely smiled at her softly and patted her head before she smirked and before she could open her mouth, an old lady a few seats down yelled out at the top of her lungs.

"SERIOUSLY?! YOU TWO JUST NEED A DAMN ROOM FOR YOURSELVES!"

They both jumped in their seats and stared at each other with strange expressions on their faces, then they both slowly turned around to stare at the woman who grumpily sat in the back with her hands folded neatly in her lap. She caught them staring and then raised an extra thin white eyebrow.

"Don't look at me like that, you darn kids! You know what I'm talking about!"

With another awkward exchange of glances, both of them slowly turned back with laughter written all over their faces, her cheeks were stained a nice dusty pink and she stared down at her iPod, playing Scoops. Peter leaned towards her shoulder to observe and then silently went back to practicing on some Physics problems. "I seriously think she needs help." He muttered out under his breath. Emerald took a second to glance at him and then went back to toying with her iPod. "I couldn't agree more." Though, she couldn't help but be a little flabbergasted and flustered at the same time. With the two emotions mixed together, it turned into a horrible concoction…leading into a slight headache. She just sighed deeply and went on her merry way. Landing ice cream blobs into the cone without having veggies drop in.

**~OOO~**

"Did you just call me a boob?!"

Emerald burst out laughing and gently set her fork down, she honestly didn't want to choke on some delicious Panda Express.

"Well…ya."

"Is it even…a word..?"

"Yes, Peter. It's a word. It's another more unsophisticated word for bre-"

"I knew that! I didn't mean that, I knew it was a word. But..really…boob? You couldn't think of another word?"

"No! I couldn't! It w..was the first word that popped up into my head that referred someone as a silly person."

"There a million other words you could've chosen."

Emerald stuffed the fork in her mouth and then hastily swallowed the chow mien before looking up at Peter and giving him one of her sarcastic smiles.

"I'm going to shove your fork down your throat if you keep questioning me."

"Jesus. Violent."

"Hey, you gotta move one way in life."

"Look at me. I'm Emerald. The next person in line for Dictator! MY WORD MEANS LAW! I WILL SMITE ALL OF YOU!"

Emerald choked on her Dr. Pepper and began to cough, making wandering eyes shift her way in annoyance, after all. They were the only annoying teenagers in the little restaurant. Peter chuckled loudly and then lowered his head quickly and tried to compose himself, after a while, he looked back up again to see Emerald dabbing at her eyes with a napkin and he snorted out, entering another round of laughter.

"Ha. You snorted."

"Yes, it's a normal human error that happens when you're having too much fun."

"You're having fun?"

"Of course. You're a very entertaining person."

"I'd say the same for you."

"Glad to hear."

Emerald pulled up her camera and began shifting through the numerous pictures they had taken, together, separately, and a just a bunch of other random things. She smiled and he looked up to examine her face.

"You take very nice pictures."

"It's just a natural thing. I think your pictures are great too."

"Who's your favorite photographer?"

"Hmm…there are many, but I'd have to go with Ansel Adams."

A smile grew upon Peter's face as he finished the last of his meal.

"His pictures are astounding. When I look at his pictures, I feel like my eyes just grow wider and wider."

"Ditto."

There was a slight cackle.

"Ditto?"

"Are we going to have another debate, Peter?"

"…No."

"I thought so."

After they both finished, he took the liberty of taking her trash and throwing it out for her, well, not without having a heated argue, but she soon gave in to his pleas. They walked out to find that the sun was down and that it was kind of dark out, she looked down at her watch to find that the time had passed by so fast. First, they decided to head to the library and study some Physics together, then they took maybe about 10 minutes at a local arcade. She smiled and now here they were, finished with dinner. Peter pulled out his phone, "9:00. Aunt May will probably start worrying if I'm not home by 11:00. Want me to take you home, we do live in the same neighborhood?"

She looked at him with an uneasy expression. She wanted to stay much longer, she wanted to prowl around the streets and alleys for anything interesting. Emerald wanted to take a risk and enter some of her photos for the Daily Bugle. She shook her head and then smiled, trying to convince him in case he had any doubts.

"Nah. I'm just going to..hang around. I think there's a book store down this street, maybe a couple of minutes away. I think I'll check that out before heading home, you know, for anything interesting."

"Interesting, huh?"

"Yup. Interesting."

"I can't help but get the feeling that you're hiding something."

"What is there to hide?" She stared straight into his eyes with a stone hard glare, hoping that it would shake his senses up a bit. Ok, so she was hiding the fact that she was NOT going to the bookstore but INDEED going to do something irresponsible and completely STUPID…but of course, she didn't want him to worry so she left that part out.

Peter stared at her a bit longer and then shook his head, finally, his face lit up again with that sly smile of his. He nodded his head and then breathed out slowly. "Alright, you've convinced me. I'll see you tomorrow then?"

Emerald nodded with satisfaction all over her face, she kept the triumph and the need to pump her fist inside her head, "Totally. I'll see you tomorrow."

He began to walk off but she tugged him back for a second by nervously grabbing onto his jacket sleeve, he turned to face her with his eyebrows shot up, "And be careful."

A genuine smile carved it's way onto his face and he nodded before shaking her held out hand, "You too. Goodnight."

"Night."

And with that said and done, he was soon out of her line of sight. She quickly turned on her heel and speed walked down the side walk away from Panda Express. She was hoping to find something juicy and worthwhile. Emerald held up her camera and walked and walked through the alleys and deserted sidewalks for something..anything. Soon she found herself near the bustling area of NY, she sighed and continued down towards the safe route. 'That was a waste of time. But patience is definitely the key.' She pulled out her phone to check the time and sighted, "9:30. Perfect." She mumbled obscenities under her breath and kicked lazily at the pebbles at her feet and sluggishly walked towards the subway station, it was her fastest bet home. "I should get going now, no use in sulking around." She let out a ragged breath and stuffed her hands in her pocket.

**-TIME SKIP-**

Emerald crouched down on her legs, her muscles screaming in pain because of the constant walking that she had been doing, she held her camera up to her right eye and stared through the view finder at the scene in front of her. From the rounded corner of the alley she was in, she had two men in the perfect angle doing…what? They seemed to be arguing, she had to take pictures as well as some notes. So, she pulled out a little notebook and began writing down information.

"There isn't anymore time, Marty. We need to act now! Our voices need to be heard. The Radicals can't just stand by without screaming out!"

"…I know, I know."

"Alright! If you know! Then at least tell me what's recently been happening."

"Well. The the Boss was thinking of getting that stuff..you know."

"Wait. What stuff?"

"The stuff that that Conners guy made, that turned him into that…freak."

"Why would you guys need that?"

"I haven't found out enough yet! Alright! All I know is that a certain group of people who hung around with Conners are going to be hurt! That's all I know!"

"When is this going to happen, though?"

"I can't tell, not soon, that's for sure. There's still a bunch of planning to do."

She heard enough. Were they talking about that crazy man…Dr. Curt Conners? The scientist who caused most of NY to be evacuated? All she knew was because he had turned himself into a freak Lizard thing and wanted to spread this strange gas throughout the city to turn innocent people into monsters like him. But what had been is motivation? Why had he done it? Yes, Emerald had indeed been busy, she had looked up the recent accidents. Including the one with that dreaded bridge. The bridge where her parents had died, and where she had almost lost her life. But she was now interested in knowing why he did that, there was definitely more research to be done. Emerald held back the emotional tears that threatened to emerge and shook her head, she needed to get some pictures. 'It looks there's going to be an important exchange here.' She pulled up her camera and watched through the view finder to see that one guy looked down at some kind of paper. No doubt something important.

Emerald timed herself and snapped it right when he handed the paper to Marty. A slight gasp escaped her lips once she realized that the camera had only acted naturally, since it was too dark. It had automatically turned to Night mode. There had been a bright flash. Her breath stopped and her body froze, she felt the cold beads of sweat forming on her forehead and her eyes widen. "Hey! Who's there! Show yourself!"

Emerald sucked in a breath and stumbled back onto her bottom and began scooting back as fast as she could.

"There! There they are! Get um!"

She gasped again and stumbled to get up, she ran down the alley she came from in hopes of losing the two gang members, if they saw her face, she would definitely be stalked afterwards, beaten to a pulp and left to die. Even if she was a girl. These people did not care for who they harmed, not one bit. Innocent didn't' run through their head. Emerald pulled her hood up to cover her face and began to urge herself to run faster, despite her calfs screaming in pain. She strapped her camera tightly to her body and took sharp skid to the right and sighed with relief once she heard the heavy footfalls behind her cease. She slowed down to a quick stop and turned around to see that they were no longer behind her. She cocked her head to the side and shook her head. 'Have to be alert. They could be anywhere. Man, I wish these guys were stupid.'

Just when she thought it was safe to move one, there was a click of a gun being loaded and then suddenly, there was pressure applied to her back. She felt the breath flutter out of her as she immediately froze up. That was definitely no cricket, it was too sudden…and too cold. That was indeed what her second thought was, a gun.

"Well, well. What do we have here. An eavesdropper."

"What do you want to do with her, Marty?"

"Her?"

"Ya. Look at her ass, it's too round to be a guy's."

She gritted her teeth at their remark and then countered, she quickly spun around and clumsily roundhouse kicked the one who seemed be enjoying her posterior view. She quickly made a beeline down the alley again, stumbling over her own feet more than twice. Emerald gasped and wheezed for air, it's not like she didn't exercise, she hadn't in a while, she was just out of shape…and not by body structure, but more internally. Right when she thought it was hopeless and that they would eventually catch her. There was a popping noise from above and suddenly, a strange tug pulled her up so quickly, she couldn't even comprehend what happened until she let out a little yelp and was pulled up into the familiar arms of Spider-man.

Not realizing that it indeed was him, she began to uselessly pound mercilessly on his arms and chest.

"Let me go! I didn't mean any harm! I just needed a story! Let me go!"

"Hey! HEY! It's me!"

She immediately stopped pounding on him an opened her eyes to see the glassy yellow lenses of Spider-man staring down at her. Externally, you couldn't really tell if he was upset or not, he was wearing a mask! But from the tone of his voice…he was beyond pissed. She was suddenly finding the goons a lot more comfortable and open. "You.."

"What were you thinking?! ARE YOU CRAZY?!"

"Oh god, please let me go! I think I'd rather face their wrath."

"Answer my question, Emerald."

He gripped her arms with both hands and refused to let go with out a proper explanation. After hopelessly struggling, she sighed and then looked down at the ground.

"Ahem."

"OK! I just needed a story! I saw the headlines on the Daily Bugle. They said that they needed photographers and I thought..why not! I could make some good cash! So it said that they needed something interesting and I thought that NY and it's alleys were quite the catch and decided to hang around here and I did find what I was looking for so can you now let go of me!?" Emerald was beyond proud of herself, she said that under one breath, 'I better get a pat on the back for this.' She looked up to find Spider-man shaking his head.

"You could have found another interesting story elsewhere!"

"I wanted something that would stand out! I wanted to show Jameson that I can indeed take the risk!"

"…"

She looked down for a second, he quickly released her from his stronger than iron grip and then began pacing back and forth.

"I knew I was right when I said that you were a danger magnet. It seems that everywhere you walk, you pull something bad towards you! How is that even possible!"

She winced with every syllable and then sat down on the ground, her legs folded up to her chest. "You're mad, aren't you?"

"I'm beyond mad! Emerald! I'm really mad! You could have gotten hurt, you could have gotten killed! I CANNOT believe what you just did!"

"You act like a parent! What's it to you anyway! I'm just a regular girl!"

"No! You're not! You're different! For…ah…for some reason, you're just special in a different way. There's something about you that casts you out from other people."

Emerald glared up at him for a second to see that he had stopped pacing to examine her, he grew close to her and sat down across from her, she looked down at the brick building they were on and sighed. Toying with the scraping texture of the building.

"With great power comes great responsibility."

She furrowed her eyebrows together and looked up at him to see him staring off into the horizon.

"What?"

"My uncle told me those words before he was killed. He told me that if you have power…use it for good. And not for the evil. To respect it and take the gratitude, even if it's not in the form that you want it to be in. I listen to those words every night, and I meditate and reflect on those words. I want to help people, I want to show people that there is someone out there that is there for everyone and that is willing to risk his life for their safety. I just want people to understand."

She suddenly felt guilty, she felt horrible, she felt stupid. Emerald had the urge to claw at her being, to rip at her skin, to regret that she had gotten mad at him for caring so much about her. He was just afraid to lose people important to him. He was right, the one that should be angry, was him, not her. She smacked her forehead and he snapped his head to stare at her. "I'm…s-sorry, Spider-man. I'm so…sorry." Then the tears began to spill out uncontrollably, she shook her head and used her palms to continuously wipe away at the never ending flow of salty tears.

Spider-man scooted closer to her and began to wipe away her tears, he shook his head and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, rubbing her arm to comfort her. She leaned ageist his chest and soon the hiccuping began. "Hey, hey. You didn't say anything at all. Why are you crying. Don't cry, I don't like seeing you cry. When you cry, it hurts me. Dry up." He wiped up the remaining tears and stared down at her, she looked up at his lenses and then smiled slightly. "I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to apologize for."

"For being stupid."

"Well..maybe that. But don't worry about it. Shouldn't you be getting home though. What time is it?"

She pulled her phone out and stared down at the time. "10:00."

"Come on. Hold on, I'll take you home."

**~OOO~**

"Can you stay with me…please?"

She stared up at Spider-man, his looming tall figure casted a dark shadow on her figure, he nodded and urged her inside her home.

Emerald walked up to the fire place and began to light it, she flipped up the switch and sat down on the comfy arm chair. Emerald turned her head to see that Spider-man had lurked his way already into the chair, he aimlessly stared into the fire until she cleared her throat.

"So you saved all those people on that bridge accident, right?"

He looked at her, he seemed to be hesitant before he nodded, folding his legs up in a pretzel style.

"Yes."

"Including me."

His head snapped towards her with what seemed like astonishment, he cocked his head to the side and then stared back into the fire.

"You were there?"

"I was."

"I see…"

"Can I tell you..a story?"

He turned his head to her again and leaned on his palm, towards her.

"About what?"

"My parents."

**~OOO~**

****A/N: I was sooooo glad to see all the lovely reviews and favs! Thank you soooooooo much! Please do keep them coming! You guys are my motivation, sorry this took a while to update, and guess what! I have 2 other stories that I haven't even updated in a while! Yikes! I'm goon be attacked! Lol, anyway. Soo..? What do you think? Emerald seems to be suspicious about Peter, and she seems to be growing even closer to Spidey. And now..we get to find out about her parents! GASP! I wonder what Spidey's reaction will be! Will see ya next time! Review and Fav to your heart's content and I can't wait for the next chapter!****


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